You Do You [Chronicles Of The City]

Caitlin Corsetti

You guys, it’s almost 2013. Where did this year go?! If you told me last New Year’s Eve that I’d be going to a masquerade party in Brooklyn to celebrate, I would have rolled over laughing. 2012 has been full of adventure and change, and it’s been pretty solid. I graduated, I moved to New York, and I think 2013 could be the year that I become a real person.

Well let me tell you, that shit gets exhausting. I never do anything for myself. I’m in my twenties, this is the time when I can be selfish! And we are so focused on how others perceive us. I’ve experienced an interesting double-life thing here. I have my internet life as a blogger and personality, and I don’t care how commenters or trolls view me really. But in real life, with people who actually know me, I care more.

I refuse to let judgement bother me this year. This is my life, not anyone else’s. And it’s your life, not anyone else’s. You get to make your decisions, and if it’s what you think is right, then roll with it. If you screw up, you can apologize and make amends and move on. Life is a choose your own adventure game in the biggest sense. All of our actions are choices, which seems pretty scary if you think about it.

Some of your choices won’t go over well and will have consequences, but you can’t please everyone. That’s been my biggest learning curve this year. I can’t make everyone happy. Not everyone is going to like me. And I’m okay with that. In true Seinfeld fashion, as George would say, this is the year of Caitlin! And it’s the year of you too!

This year, I’m doing me. (Totally sounds sexual when I reread it, but WHATEVER.) You do you. If you want to do something, do it. Do things that make you happy, take some chances. Don’t avoid what you want to do just because someone else might not be happy about it. If you’re living to make other people happy, you’re going to end up miserable. I’m not saying to never do anything for anyone ever again, but you’re allowed to be selfish when you need to be. You can’t be a good friend to other people if you’re not happy first. Get outside your comfort zone and do stuff. As millennials, we have to take advantage of this world. We have so much opportunity in front of us, but we get stuck in our little bubbles.

Keep a bottle of champagne around at all times so you always have a reason to celebrate. Smile more. Have that cookie. Stay up late with your friends. Call your parents. Say “I love you.” Explore your city. Get out there, do you, and be the fabulous person that you are.